What is Parallax effect?

Parallax effect means effect of having multiple background layers that move in different speeds based on their distance from the camera (read, user’s eye).

Parallax effect is used to give illusion of depth and realism to scenes.

Parallax effect is now adopted by web developers to create stunning addictive sites.

Parallax effect can be seen as 3D effect which is observed when the speed of all images and all other elements in foreground of the screen is different from those elements in the background of the screen.

History of parallax effect

Like many cool effects, parallax effect has also come from Gaming industry.

The arcade game Moon Patrol (1982!!) was the first to use and popularize parallax effect as side scrolling in video games.

Other games like Jungle Hunt also started to follow and build upon the parallax effect.

Wait! Although gaming industry popularized this effect, the attempt to do all these manually were still there in many animation films, made as early as 1930s where all animations were made painfully with hands and use of multi-plane cameras.

Types and methods of parallax effect

Parallax effect can be used in following four ways to create an effective 3D effect in websites:

Layer Method:

In this method of parallax effect the entire view is made up of series of layers.

The foreground, background and the intermediate layers – all are made to move at different speed.

Raster Method:

In this method of parallax effect, you draw an individual line of pixel and then refresh it all the way down the screen (top to bottom) leaving a slight delay between each line being drawn to create the parallax effect.

Sprite Method:

In this method of parallax effect you take composites of images and combine them into pseudo-layering of “sprites”.

Moving the “camera” angle for viewing, then delivering visibility on only a single layer or group of layers rendering others invisible creating the parallax effect.

Repeating pattern/animation method:

In this method of parallax effect the displays are built up of individual tiles which are made to ‘float’ over a repeating background layer by animating the individual tiles’ bitmaps in order to portray the parallax effect.

Color cycling can be used to animate tiles quickly on the whole screen in this method of creating parallax website.

When to use parallax effect?

Parallax effect must be used when its use delight the users.

Parallax effect should be used when you wish to explain your product. Apple product pages mostly use parallax effect to explain their products.

Parallax effect is best suited when you want more one-time visitors than repeat visitors.

Like all other effect, parallax effect is catchy to eyes when seen first time and on repeat or even second visit.

Parallax effect increases the boring-to-interesting ratio.

One of the best applications of parallax effect is when you want to explain a process. Parallax effect can be used to explain very complex processes.

And the best is, you can do this without paying much for making cool costly explainer videos, just with the use of parallax effect.

Parallax effect can be used for storytelling. This effect can be used when you want to tell the story of firm’s origin or someone’s life story.

Parallax effect is suited for storytelling because of its immersive and focuses gathering nature.

In other words, think of the user visiting your site. Does this effect help him in getting what he wants, in addition to making the site appear beautiful? If no, then do not use it.

Example : In the following animation, three layers are moving leftward at different speeds. Their speeds decrease from front to back and correspond to increases in relative distance from the viewer. The ground layer is moving 8 times as fast as the vegetation layer. The vegetation layer is moving two times as fast as the cloud layer.

When not to use parallax effect?

Agreed, parallax effect makes the site looks good and gives an impression of “Coolness”.

But is it really worth it? Do consider the following instances where you should ignore that parallax effect also exists and can live happily without it.

Compromising the site speed:

Many times, parallax effect leads to decrease in loading speed.

If not managed or executed well, the decrease can be quite significant.

One time visits vs. Multiple Visits:

Imagine if facebook.com had parallax effect, where you had to scroll some wheel to reach the login place.

Or even, if it was at center, wouldn’t parallax effect become fancy to boring to useless to frustrating the more and more you visit the site?

If you are expecting repeat visitors, then parallax effect won’t serve much good purpose.

SEO:

You need to work more to take in account how search engines take up your website plus the parallax effect, especially on mobile sites.

Just don’t use parallax effect for the sake of coolness. Use it for the very purpose you wish to achieve.

Side note on History of Parallax effect: Like many cool effects, this has also come from Gaming industry. The arcade game Moon Patrol (1982!!) was the first to use and popularize this effect as side scrolling in video games. Other games like Jungle Hunt also started to follow and build upon this effect.

Wait! Although gaming industry popularized this effect, the attempt to do all these manually were still there in many animation films, made as early as 1930s. Where all animations (Flip books?) were made painfully with hands and use of multi-plane cameras.

Tips when using parallax effect for your website

Never add unnecessary elements to website just to show how big your website is, it makes site more complicated and difficult to use parallax effect.

In most cases parallax effect must be used to depict a visual story.

Make use of layering to make your website more interesting and interactive.

Always pay attention to browser’s version which sometimes may and may not support parallax effect.

5 best parallax websites

Following is a list of 5 best parallax websites that have used to parallax effect to create interactive websites.

Fluttuo

Fluttuo uses long scrolling parallax effect.

Website contains parallax effect on the top layer which slides over the background layer.

It provides great online shopping experience with its clean interface.

The parallax effect is supported with hovering section heads and carousels, which makes website more attractive.

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